21st out of 239 books
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689 voters
Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories
This collection features a brilliant new translation of the Japanese master's stories, from the source for the movie Rashomon to his later, more autobiographical writings.
Paperback, 268 pages
Published
October 31st 2006
by Penguin Classics
(first published 1952)
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Obviously the difficulty of rating collections of stories is the fact that they don't necessarily all rate equally. About a third of these stories are easily knock-out 5-star fantastic. The other two-thirds I'd rate mostly 4 stars with a few 3 stars. All worth reading and in general I think this is probably a good intro to Akutagawa's work in that it contains a nice cross-section of his work from the earliest historical stories to his later primarily autobiographical stories.
I perso...more
I perso...more
When I read my first Murakami, a compilation of short stories called "After the Quake," I was amazed by his refreshing originality. Some of his stories, indeed, had the effect of an earthquake to me. There were jolting, sudden and unexpected turns. In one, a man and a woman, after a brief introduction, make love. Then, out of nowhere, the man felt a sudden impulse to kill her. In another story, the characters were on a beach. Tears suddenly flow down from the eyes of one character, the...more
Parrish Lantern
added it
Rashomon & 17 other stories
Ryunosuke Akutugawa is generally regarded as the "father of the Japanese short story" of which he wrote approximately a hundred, before taking his own life at the age of 35, he also has Japan's most famous Literary prize named after him (Akutagawa Prize) . Born in Tokyo in 1892 & raised by a family steeped in traditional Japanese culture, by a young age had mastered English...more
Hmm, these stories are so unlike what I'm used to expecting shorts to be like. They're like folklore or legends. It's quite impressive to think a once-living man could have created such timeless stories. Don't such narratives take centuries to shape, passed from one generation to the next by old women making yarn or silk thread?
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I'm not sure whether to be amused or annoyed that Murakami gives Akutagawa such grud...more
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I'm not sure whether to be amused or annoyed that Murakami gives Akutagawa such grud...more
One of my favorite collection of short stories from any country. I credit this with opening my eyes to Japanese literature and further inspiring a look intot he country as a whole. The stories could be broken into two groups - the historical and the autobiographical. They are both interesting in their own regards, but I think that one intrigued by the 'romantic' Japan of geishas and samurai would be well-served to take a look at the first half of the book which handle the subject matter in direc...more
"Rashomon" tells the story of a "lowly servant" sheltering from the rain on the steps of a rashomon (outer castle gate). He has recently been laid off and sits pondering his future. He hears a sound and ventures inside the rashomon to see what it was. Inside are heaps of dead bodies from the recent plague and a strange old woman wandering about, going through the corpses' clothes. The servant attacks the old woman, strips her of her clothing, throws her onto the heap, and run...more
Awesome read. It's like Grimm's Fairy Tales as told by Mr. Miyagi. Well, not really... but you know what I mean. It's dark stuff and as the book progresses, the stories get more and more autobiographical until you are fully enlightened of the mental anguish and insanity that caused Akutagawa to kill himself in his thirties. Most stories are a quick read and all of them are interesting and poignant. I imagine this is an excellent first step into Japanese literature for a Westerner as Akutagawa's ...more
The story Rashomon itself is beautifully simple, as is the follow-up story, which was the basis for the much better-known (in the West, at least) film. The collection started strong.
Akutagawa lost me with his deeply involved historical tales. Not only did I feel one needed a more thorough knowledge of the culture and history to get them, it's just naturally hard for me to connect to stories that are set in a realm of existence not only so different from me, but embedded within and de...more
Akutagawa lost me with his deeply involved historical tales. Not only did I feel one needed a more thorough knowledge of the culture and history to get them, it's just naturally hard for me to connect to stories that are set in a realm of existence not only so different from me, but embedded within and de...more
Very dark; madness, the unforgiving brutality of various periods of Japanese history, inconstancy to oneself, despair and self-loathing and alienation. A basic attraction to Christianity, twinned with distrust and distaste. The sympathy between tormented modernism and the floating world. As with Akutagawa's mentor Soseki Natsume, there's a strong interest in both Western culture and the superficiality of Japanese reaction to it, but it's a much less prominent theme.
If the introductio...more
If the introductio...more
Yuval
marked it as excerpts-read
I've gone through a number of these stories now and enjoyed each one tremendously; he comes across to me a lot like the proto-absurd, tragicomic Japanese Gogol (but maybe it's Akutagawa's own "Nose" that makes me think so). I didn't get to all of the stories in this edition but hope to dip back into it in the future.
Akutagawa known as the “Father of Japanese short stories” stays true to his designation with this collection of metaphysically refined stories. The rendered stories: - The Grove, Yam Gruel, Rashomon, Martyr to name a few; highlights Akutagawa’s preference for macabre themes of immortality, depression, virtue, chaos and death. These stories encompass a constant battle of skepticism prevailing over virtue of morality v/s existence of evil.
In Rashomon, the act of the gh...more
In Rashomon, the act of the gh...more
i did it! i finished the story! the sun should be coming up any minute now. i hear the chill-sounding crow of the rooster outside, but why do i feel depressed even though i've managed to finish writing this? o-kimi made it back unscathed to her room over the beauty parlor that night, but unless she stops waiting on tables at the cafe, there's no saying she won't go out with tanaka alone again. and when i think of what might happen then - no, what happens then will happen then. no amount of wo...more
When I first started writing book reviews and posting them to my blog I really didn't care what I wrote. I never spent more than 10 minutes on any of them. I just wanted my name to be posted on the internet every day. The point was to publicise my stories, into which I poured my heart and soul.
Then something terrible happened. People began to read my reviews. Not just any old people. Experts.
I've had Chinese literary experts. Sex experts. Hard-boiled fiction experts. Ther...more
Then something terrible happened. People began to read my reviews. Not just any old people. Experts.
I've had Chinese literary experts. Sex experts. Hard-boiled fiction experts. Ther...more
I wish I had enjoyed this more. The stories are separated into three sections, the first of which I enjoyed very much. 'Rashomon' and 'Hell Screen' and the one about the dragon god (the name of which escapes me) were all very good but I did not enjoy the second section at all albeit for one story and the third section, which purports to be autobiographical, was very disjointed and uninteresting. This section read like a very boring diary of the frustrated life of an artist. I don't understand ar...more
A book whose acquaintance I am very happy to make. Although a translation can only give a faint idea of what these stories' reputation for stylistic mastery is based on, their bitter irony and narrative economy appeals to me. I think the title story will stick in my head for a long time. (A bit confusingly, that's not the one Kurosawa's movie "Rashomon" is based on, but another, "In a Bamboo Grove".) I was impressed by "The Story of a Head That Fell Off", "Gree...more
cool collection of stories from famous suicide ryunosuke akutagawa imo. he reminds me a bit of gogol, especially the proto-salary man comedy "horse legs". most of the stories are real good, esp horse legs, "green onions", "hell screen", "death reister", "life of a stupid man", "loyalty" and "spinning gears." thats like half the book there folks. the girl in "green onions" mistaking her portrait of woodrow wilson for ...more
ในบรรดานักเขียนญี่ปุ่นทุกคนที่ผมเคยอ่าน ผมนับว่าริวโนสุเกะ อาคุตะกะวะเป็นอัจฉริยะในหมู่อัจฉริยะ
แต่ไม่ใช่ว่าคนทุกคนจะชอบสไตล์งานเขียนของอาคุตะกาว่า เพราะสไตล์เรื่องสั้นของเขาหลายครั้งเป็นงานเขียนที่ดึงเอาด้านมืดของจิตใจมนุษย์มาโยนใส่หน้าคนอ่านแบบไม่มีการประณีประนอม สร้าง ethical paradox พร้อมเปิดช่องให้ผู้อ่านตีความบทประพันธ์เอาเอง ซึ่งจะพบได้ในเรื่องสั้นหลายเรื่องของหนังสือเล่มนี้ (ในป่าละเมาะ, ฉากนรก)
(แนวการเขียนรูปแบบนี้นับได้ว่าเป็นต้นแบบของงานเขียนในยุคหลังๆ จำพวก postmodernism ที่...more
แต่ไม่ใช่ว่าคนทุกคนจะชอบสไตล์งานเขียนของอาคุตะกาว่า เพราะสไตล์เรื่องสั้นของเขาหลายครั้งเป็นงานเขียนที่ดึงเอาด้านมืดของจิตใจมนุษย์มาโยนใส่หน้าคนอ่านแบบไม่มีการประณีประนอม สร้าง ethical paradox พร้อมเปิดช่องให้ผู้อ่านตีความบทประพันธ์เอาเอง ซึ่งจะพบได้ในเรื่องสั้นหลายเรื่องของหนังสือเล่มนี้ (ในป่าละเมาะ, ฉากนรก)
(แนวการเขียนรูปแบบนี้นับได้ว่าเป็นต้นแบบของงานเขียนในยุคหลังๆ จำพวก postmodernism ที่...more
I wouldn't call these stories so much as I would call them vignettes. Story implies a plot, an arc, something with a beginning, a middle, and an end, but these are mostly impressions. A few of them were stories, some even pretty good, but most of them were not. I was really, really disappointed.
I was especially disappointed with Rashomon. People have raved to me about the movie, so I expected a short story of a quality that would inspire someone to make a movie out of it, but again, ...more
I was especially disappointed with Rashomon. People have raved to me about the movie, so I expected a short story of a quality that would inspire someone to make a movie out of it, but again, ...more
Perfectly translated new edition of famous classical stories as "Rashomon," "In a Bamboo grove," "The Nose," "Dragon," "Hell Screen" and "The Spider's Thread." Akutagawa used to be only available in somewhat antiquated translations, so this new translation is very welcome. Besides historical fiction, also several modern stories have been included. "The Story of a Head that Fell Off" is the perfect anti-war tale; and "Hors...more
Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Rashomon and 17 Other Stories (Penguin, 2006)
I'll admit I picked this up less because it was Akutagawa than the bit that said “illustrated by Yoshihiro Tatsumi”, who's been one of the best in the business for over thirty years. When I actually got it, I found out Tatsumi was only responsible for the cover, but I went ahead and read it anyway. Eighteen of Akutagawa's stories, including “Rashomon” and “In a Grove” (the two stories that, in combination, Kurosawa ada...more
I'll admit I picked this up less because it was Akutagawa than the bit that said “illustrated by Yoshihiro Tatsumi”, who's been one of the best in the business for over thirty years. When I actually got it, I found out Tatsumi was only responsible for the cover, but I went ahead and read it anyway. Eighteen of Akutagawa's stories, including “Rashomon” and “In a Grove” (the two stories that, in combination, Kurosawa ada...more
I must say that I was drawn to Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Rashomon and 17 Other Stories by the alluring manga (comic) cover. Of course, I’ve been curious about this writer since there is a major literary award named after him and the fact that Kurosawa used his stories for his major breakthrough film Rashomon. This Penguin Deluxe Edition has an introduction by Haruki Murakami (my favorite contemporary Japanese author) and was translated by his usual translator Jay Rubin. I was surprised to find out t...more
Good, but...
Yes. I did it. I've committed one of the ultimate literary sacrileges of all time. I read Akutagawa Ryunosuke in translation when I could have read it in original Japanese. I am guilty as charged; there is no question about it. I just couldn't resist a book with such a cool cover and Murakami's introduction plus his trusted Jay Rubin doing the translation. I just had to buy it.
Having said that, I did read it along with the actual Japanese text in front of me...more
Yes. I did it. I've committed one of the ultimate literary sacrileges of all time. I read Akutagawa Ryunosuke in translation when I could have read it in original Japanese. I am guilty as charged; there is no question about it. I just couldn't resist a book with such a cool cover and Murakami's introduction plus his trusted Jay Rubin doing the translation. I just had to buy it.
Having said that, I did read it along with the actual Japanese text in front of me...more
There is more than a little bit of Gogol's ideas here, as Akutagawa admits in his own madman's diary, The Life of a Stupid Man. Yet for all the personal tragedy noted in his chronology and appearing throughout his works, there is still two qualities that make his works admired by many: professionalism and playfulness. He reads greatly about other cultures, and retells the this wide range as Japanese stories. And he always seems to be writing, too. Especially during the darkest times in his l...more
I liked it enough to keep reading every night after I should have gone to sleep, cutting into my precious sleeping hours. The story Rashomon is haunting, and the backdrop of the samurai period gone to seed is creepy and unlike anything I'd previously thought about Japan. We just saw Memoirs of a Geisha, I know, not even slightly realistic and so poorly written, oy veh! That world is so picture perfect so story book, and yet I now realize that it is very much the image of early 20th century of Ja...more
I had mixed feelings about this book until the final section, which consists of autobiographical stories. Seeing more of Akutagawa's internal world cast new light on the preceding stories. "The Life of a Stupid Man" and "Spinning Gears" were heartbreaking. I also loved "Green Onions", "Hell Screen" and a few others.
Beautiful cover art on this edition by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (unfortunately replaced on a newer printing). A useful chronology and ...more
Beautiful cover art on this edition by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (unfortunately replaced on a newer printing). A useful chronology and ...more
Pretty short collection of ancient Japanese fiction. Rashomon is great story about evil begetting evil, and some of the other stories herein I had never heard of, but enjoyed reading. The styles of some of these older Japanese stories are really disjointed; they seem to break off very quickly after the climax. The stories are mostly tragic, but after something horrible happens they end abruptly before any parable or moral lesson can be conveyed. This has much to do with the world view prevalent ...more
The best book of short stories I read in 2009. Akutagawa's prose, "lucid as ice", is always astonishing. His work effortlessly mixes eastern and western motifs into a heady blend of aesthetic splendor, emotional intensity, detatched and exact narration, and violence. The translation seems scrupulous and the introduction by Haruki Murakami rivals anything for an intro to this great modernist writer.
Don't just read "Rashomon" and "In a Grove"!
Don't just read "Rashomon" and "In a Grove"!
If you enjoyed those ((Even)More) Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books as a kid and wish you could still read them without looking like a total idiot, then by all means read this book. These "macabre" tales use all the same set-ups and plot devices and language as those cheesy stories from our youth, but somehow they're considered literature. Apparently they're historically significant as the earliest example of western influence on a Japanese author, but they're still boring.
Anthony
rated it
Recommends it for:
kurosawa fans, japanophiles, suicidal writers
Shelves:
short-fiction
if you watched and enjoyed kurosawa's Rashomon, it's worth reading this translation of the story it's based on (which, incidentally, is named "In a Budding Grove" - "Rashomon" is something else). i don't know how heartily i can recommend the book overall, though. the middle stories that focused on honor and death in japanese society were interesting culturally, but dragged a bit. i was actually not looking forward to picking this book up again after about a year's hiatus unti...more
Great introduction to an author, Akutagawa, who is just as good as an F. Scott, a Faulkner or Hemingway. Some of the most eerie, and mind-warping short stories, stories period, you'll have the benefit of reading. Akira Kurosawa blended most of the stories in this book to create an all-time classic movie, Rashomon. Greatness precedes greatness.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Best story in the collection? | 5 | 25 | Jan 10, 2012 08:27am |
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa is regarded as the "Father of the Japanese short story". He is renowned for his style and finely detailed stories that explore the darker side of human nature. Akutagawa wrote no full-length novels, focusing instead on short stories
Towards the end of his life, Akutagawa began suffering from visual hallucinations and nervousness over fear that he had inheri...more
More about Ryūnosuke Akutagawa...
Towards the end of his life, Akutagawa began suffering from visual hallucinations and nervousness over fear that he had inheri...more
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